FIRST YEAR
STUDENTS’ PERCEPTI
ONS TOWARD L2 USE IN
EFL CLASSROOMS
Magdalena Kristiani Budiarto
ABSTRACT
The language use by the teachers and the students in classroom has pros and cons results whether they use first language (L1) or second language (L2). In this case, L1 refers to Bahasa Indonesia. Many teachers and students in Indonesia still use L1 in English teaching and learning process. That is why aimed of this study is to answer the
research question about students’ perceptions toward L2 use in EFL (English as a
Foreign Language) classrooms. Further, this study was conducted using open-ended questionnaire. The participants of this research were first year students of English Language Education Program (ELEP) from Faculty of Language and Arts (FLA) in Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana, Salatiga (UKSW). There were 9 questions and
categorized them in students’ preferences, students’ feeling, and students’ opinion of
the use of dictionaries. The result showed that students were prefer to have teachers and classmates who spoke their first language. However, it seemed contradicted with
the students’ opinion of having English only policy. Here, this study might have
significant implications for the teachers and students such teachers might be able to modify their classroom management to reduce the amount and frequency for first language use. Then, the students may be able to eliminate them and eventually improve the English language learning.
